Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) has awarded an $80 million US equity long/short mandate to Aletheia Research and Management.

Aletheia, a Californian-based manager, was appointed with funds freed up from the termination of a US equity mandate with Legg Mason. Greg Clarke, senior portfolio manager at QIC, said that Aletheia has a unique stock selection process – a heavy reliance on management trading information to identify value-adding opportunities – that distinguishes them from other managers. “Together with corporate buyback signals, this activity reveals powerful, albeit indirect views, about expected share price performance and company valuation,” he said. Greg Liddell, head of implemented equities, said: “We believe that as management buying and selling and corporate buyback activity is unlikely ever to disappear, the ability of the process to generate meaningful alpha is likely to be sustainable.” Aletheia currently manages $US3.5 billion in assets. Its appointment was made to further diversify alpha streams in the QIC international equities fund.